Director Sarah Peace contacted me on Vimeo to review her short film Dead Pretty. I watched the trailer and was completely intrigued. So she sent me the full film to check out! The film was released some time in October 2011 and was directed, written and produced by the genius Sarah Peace.
The film stars the beautiful Katrina Nare. They don't say her name in the film..in fact, no one speaks in the film! But the actress Katrina plays Mila, the lead role. Mila is having a lovely slumber when all of sudden she awakes to find she is being held captive by a way too familiar entity! *GASP!!* It's her hair. Yes, her hair! All of her hair (which is in braids) slithers its way off her head and down her body. Her hair ties her up in the middle of the night, in the dark bedroom that she's in and ties her down where she is completely helpless and can't move. The more she tries to escape, the more aggressive it becomes!
From first seeing the trailer, I had so many ideas on where I thought this film would lead. But all of my assumptions were wrong! What I completely loved about the film was its uniqueness. I've never seen a film like this before. I thought the story line was extremely creative with the whole Medusa idea and the way it was all filmed. Stop-motion, animation and live action scenes were all used throughout the film.
I did think the make-up could have been done a tad differently. Katrina didn't really appear bald when her hair slithered away from her. However, this detail didn't distract me from the actual story line of the film.
Something I didn't know about the film and recently found out was that it was exploring themes of masculine dominance and women's psychological relationship with hair. I honestly did not catch on to that the first time around. I had to watch it a couple of times.
Overall, I do think it was a unique short film that I wanted more from! I thought it could have been more as far as it goes with the story line. I get that it was a short film, but I guess I desired more explanation about Mila and her love for her hair.
I recommend this movie, especially if you're a lover of creativity as I am. I give it 3 1/2 out of 5 queen skulls. RQOH has spoken!
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How creepy in an artistic sort of way! This is a totally unique idea. I've never seen a person getting attacked by their own hair in a movie before. I feel like there could be a deeper message under the surface of this about the pain of beauty/the cost of being superficial. I don't know if she went in that direction, but I can see how the plot could be worked that way. I thought the subtle slithering pieces of hair in the beginning were very cool.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review, Zena! I'll be looking for this one now myself! Anything recommended by The Real Queen of Horror is good enough for this Space Jockey anytime! :)
ReplyDeleteBeing a fan of your creative and dramatic reviews I'm really glad you reviewed Dead Pretty! I agree it leaves you wanting more but I think that was the intention. If anyone would like to see the entire film, use this password 'deadprettyfull' https://vimeo.com/39715797 and your comments are welcome
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